CF BASKETBALL

Title still sinking in for Patriots

Central Florida Community College's Rasham Suarez (21) celebrates the team's 74-69 win over Northwest Florida Community College, as time runs out in the championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association basketball tournament on Saturday in Hutchinson, Kan.

Travis Morisse/The Hutchinson News

Courtesy of CF Sports Information

Published: Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, March 25, 2013 at 12:34 a.m.

The College of Central Florida men’s basketball team earned the NJCAA National Championship with a 74-69 win over Northwest Florida State on Saturday night and became just the third team from Florida to win a national championship in Men’s JuCo Basketball.

In claiming the state’s first national crown since 1995, the Patriots (34-3) downed NWFS in the first national final to feature two schools from the same state in 58 years and for just the third time in the tournament’s 66-year history.

Along the way, CF set school records for wins in a season and for single-season winning percentage and finished 31-1 when leading games at halftime.

The Patriots earned the first national title for the college since their now-defunct girls tennis program claimed the championship in 2001.

All of those accolades were even more meaningful as the final seconds ticked off the clock inside the Hutchinson, (Kan.) Sports Arena.

“It’s unbelievable,” said CF coach Tim Ryan, who earned Coach of the Tournament honors. “We talked before the game about making sacrifices and we’ve had a lot of guys do that for that team this season.

“I’m proud of my guys.”

Ryan took over the CF program 10 years ago and led this year’s team to the national tournament for the first time since 1996 when legendary coach Gene Smithson led the program.

With their second win this season over NWFS, which was at the top of the polls for much of the season, the Patriots cemented their success on a national level.

“We will buy championship rings and we’re very proud of this special group of young men,” CF athletic director Bob Zelinski said. “Coach Ryan has worked so hard for the last 10 years and his assistants (Lance Foreman and Tito Arias) have done a great job.

“This is great for our college and our community.”

Zelinksi said he expects the team to return to Ocala on Monday between 4-5 p.m.

“We are hoping to have a lot of people come and greet (the players and coaches),” Zelinski said. “This group did a great job.”

Coming off last year’s run to the state championship game and a loss to NWFS, the Patriots knew they would have a standout inside game, but it took a complete team effort to make their championship dreams come true.

“At the start of the season, I knew we were talented, but we were very thin at the guard spot,” Ryan said. “We were talented (at guard) and our guys stuck together and did a great job.

At the national tournament, McCrory, a UCF commit, scored 94 points in four games and earned Tournament MVP honors.

“This feels great and it hasn’t sunk in for me yet,” McCrory said. “I’m overwhelmed and I am just happy for everyone on the team.

“I feel great and I just can’t wait to get back to Ocala (and continue the celebration).”

McCrory’s dunk with 1:05 left in the game stopped a 7-0 run by NWFS and pushed CF’s lead to six points and kept the Raiders at bay.

“Everyone on the team came out and played with a lot of energy,” McCrory said. “As the game went on, we rushed a lot, but we calmed down there at the end.”

CF led by as many as 14 in the first half and were up by as many as 15 in the game, as it was able to hold off a second-half charge by the Raiders, who had rallied to win earlier in the tournament after trailing by 20 points in the second half to New Mexico Junior College.

“It feels great to win,” said CF freshman guard Rasham Suarez, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half in the national title game. “We started from the bottom. We weren’t ranked (in the national poll) at the start of the season and all we heard all year was Northwest this and Northwest that.

“We wanted to come out and set the tone and show them that we were the best team in Florida.”

As soon as the final seconds ticked off the clock, Davis was able to reflect on what the Patriots had done.

“It sunk in for me as soon as the game was over and I thought about how far we’ve come,” Davis said. “Being able to win four games in four days was amazing.”

Davis, who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the first win against Northwest Florida State back in the state semifinals, said the Patriots exceeded his initial expectations.

“I thought at the start of the season that we had a chance to go to the national tournament, but if you told me that we had a chance to win the national title I would have looked at you crazy,” Davis said. “(As the season went on) things came together. This feels great.”

Having the chance to knock off NWFS once again was a great feeling for the Patriots.

“I think winning over (NWFS in the finals rather than another team) was sweeter because (NWFS) had (Jones) available for the whole game (rather than just 13 minutes after the Louisville signee was ejected in the first meeting with CF),” Davis said. “We wanted to prove that we were the better team and that our win (in the state title) game wasn’t a fluke and we were able to do that.”

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